The latest testings results from the Program for International Student Assessment, show Americans are nowhere near the top in education, when compared to the rest of the world. American high school students finished 31st out of 65 economic regions in math, 23rd in science, and 17th in reading. How did our biggest global rivals do? Students from Shanghai finished at the top in all three subjects. Are American children falling behind?

Not so fast says, Ben Wildavsky, senior fellow in research and policy at the Kauffman Foundation, and the author of The Great Brain Race: How Global Universities are Reshaping the World. Wildavsky says the American education system has not slipped at all, but the Chinese educational system has improved immensely.

Guests:

Produced by:

Tags:

Comments [2]

Eric Seldner
from Eatontown, NJ

It is true that we benefit from educational success in other nations, but our superiority is important if we want to continue to lead the world. When China embraces multiparty democracy and is friendly to the US, I won't worry as much about our relative standing.

As if it matters that others have advanced while the American education system is stagnating!It is hard to believe the degree that American parents have relinquished responsibility for their children's education to teachers. And it is crazy that now teachers' livelihood is threatened by the government. (And, by the way, yes, I am a parent and neither I nor any other member of my family have ever been involved in schooling.)